50KM TO GO

The Pidcock group has been caught, so these 6 riders are the only riders remaining in front of the peloton. They’ve still got a reasonable lead of two minutes, but you sense they will need more if they’re to hold off the inevitable Tadej Pogačar charge on the final climb.

UAE Team Emirates XRG went hard on the Ballon d’Alsace, and have the Pidcock group within their sights, the catch about to be made.

Their work is also dimming the break’s chance of survival – they’re now only two minutes ahead.

KOM – BALLON D’ALSACE

Paret-Peintre does indeed win the sprint, taking it from the front this time, and Carapaz made no real effort to come around him, settling for 2nd place. Here’s the updated rankings:

1 Paret-Peintre 43

2 Pogačar 42

3 Carapaz 38

4 Vingegaard 27

5 Pidcock 18

The sextet at the front is just 1km from the top of the climb. If Paret-Peintre can once again win the sprint for the KOM points, he’ll take over from Tadej Pogačar at the top of the virtual classification.

Arensman is back in the Pidcock group (pictured), that is still being pulled along by Visma-Lease a Bike. They remain a long way down from the 6 leaders at 1:45, but are still holding off the peloton, which are at 40 seconds.

It’s been a relatively straightforward day in the peloton so far for Tadej Pogačar, who remains safely in the peloton. He’s under some pressure with Pidcock up the road, but his team have things firmly in control, keeping his group at a minute.

Yesterday, he had a go at bottle fetching, and was full of praise for his teammates at the menial jobs like that which they do for him each day.

‘It’s a hard job, don’t be fooled’ – Tadej Pogačar turns bottle-fetcher as he gets a taste of his teammates’ Tour de France workload

Problem for the EF riders in the break! Healy and Carapaz go wrong on the turn onto the Ballon d’Alsace, and are held up. They’ve managed to bridge back up to the other four in the break, but given how this might go down to the wire in terms of survival for the stage win, they can’t afford mishaps like that. As things stand, they remain one minute up on Arensman, two minutes up on the Pidcock group, and 3:15 up on the peloton.

Today’s stage is the second of three back-to-back tough climbing stages, which could prove decisive in the race for GC. Be sure to have a read of our more in-depth look at them.

‘We will need to survive as well as possible’ – Tour de France leader Tadej Pogačar hints at quiet start to tough trio of climbing stages in race

The weather has taken another turn for the worse, and it’s started pouring down. Bad timing, too, as the heavens have opened as the riders are descending, making these roads especially sketchy. They’re all taking it easily, and thankfully will be at the bottom quite soon, after which they’ll take on the third climb of the day – Ballon d’Alsace, which was also tackled yesterday.

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KOM – COL DU PAGE

It’s a repeat of the last climb, with Paret-Peintre again out-sprinting Carapaz after Healy led them out. They crest the climb 40 seconds ahead of Arensman, while the Pidcock group is at 1:50 and the peloton (which is still being led by Politt) at 3:05. Here’s what the KOM rankings look like now; this pair are closing in on Pogačar’s lead

1 Pogačar 42

2 Paret-Peintre 33

3 Carapaz 30

4 Vingegaard 27

5 Pidcock 18

Rubio has joined the five leaders at the front, but Arensman is further behind still chasing, at 20 seconds. They’re now only 1km away from the summit – Carapaz and Paret-Peintre will surely sprint for the points, but will anyone else?

Visma have decided to press on in the breakaway group, despite the presence of Pidcock in it. Campenaerts has dropped back into the peloton, but Jorgenson and Armirail are working at the front of the group and have built the advantage over the peloton up to 50 seconds.

90KM TO GO

Arensman has had to stop for a mechanical. The Dutch rider is therefore having to go hard to try to chase back up to Rubio, who has struck out alone with his teammate Castrillo having run out of gas. His work was enough to get Rubio to within 25 seconds of the leading quintet.

The riders are climbing again, up the category two Col du Page. Still UAE lead the peloton, and they’re keeping the Pidcock group very much in check, at just 40 seconds. The leading quintet is working well together though, and have grown their lead over the peloton to two minutes.

Visma-Lease a Bike are in a bit of a dilemma here. They’ve succeeded in getting a few of their riders (Jorgenson, Armirail and Campenaerts) up the road and in the break. But should they work at the front, given that they also have GC rival Pidcock in the group with them? The more attacking move would be to ride on and put UAE under pressure, but at present he is having to fight more to fend off those behind on GC than the one man ahead of him.

‘Vingegaard has to fight more to stay second than he does to win’ – Brian Holm sees tough battle ahead for Dane to maintain best of the rest status in Tour de France

100KM TO GO

The impetus has gone out of the Pidcock group. It’s now 1:15 down on the leaders, and only 40 or so seconds ahead of the peloton.

The leading five are pulling away from the rest on the descent. A chase group of three containing Arensman, Rubio and Castrillo are 30 seconds behind, but the Pidcock group is now at 1:15, and not working well together.

Carapaz and Paret-Peintre have been joined by Healy and the Johnannessen brothers on the descent, and have pulled out a lead of 25 seconds over the Pidcock group. Meanwhile the peloton is at 1:25.

KOM – GRAND BALLON

EF attempted to lead out Carapaz for the KOM points at the top with first Steinhauser and then Healy, but Paret-Peintre stole a march on him and beat him in the sprint. That pair have now pressed on down this descent and lead by a few seconds.

Here’s what the KOM rankings look like now:

1 Pogačar 42

2 Paret-Peintre 28

3 Carapaz 27

4 Vingegaard 27

5 Pidcock 18

120KM TO GO

Steinhauser continues to lead the break, as they come to within 1.5km from the top. The peloton is 1:15 behind, with UAE setting tempo. The group remains all together – who will sprint for the KOM points?

Healy and Castrillo are back in the Pidcock group, which is now being pulled by Steinhauser, his 3 EF teammates, Healy, Carapaz and Baudin, all on his wheel. Just 3km more to climb until they finally reach the summit.

Healy and Castrillo still lead by 10 seconds, as they come to within 5km from the top. It will be interesting to see who goes for the KOM points at the top – there are points available for each of the first five riders over the top, and with no single rider having stamped their authority on that classification yet, there’s a chance for someone to do so today. Here are the current rankings:

1 Pogačar 42

2 Vingegaard 27

3 Carapaz 19

4 Pidcock 18

5 Valentin Paret-Peintre 18

Healy and Castrillo have clipped off the front of the breakaway group, as they take on the brief downhill halfway up the Grand Ballon. They’re 10 seconds ahead of the Pidcock group, which includes over 30 riders, while the peloton continue not to panic at 1:30.

There’s been talk throughout this Tour of whether Pidcock should ride smartly for GC, or more aggressively and target stage wins. In these past few days, he seems to have found a way to do both simultaneously!

Despite identifying him as a danger after his leap up the GC rankings yesterday, UAE aren’t panicking at his presence in the break, and continue setting a steady tempo to keep his group at 1:15.

‘He’s becoming a bit dangerous’ – Tadej Pogačar’s team feeling the heat after Tom Pidcock’s Tour de France stage 13 raid

15km from the top of the climb, and this large group of about 25 riders is one minute ahead of the peloton. It’s full out quality climbers who will have designs on either the stage win, the king of the mountains, or both – Carapaz, Bernal, Arensman, Tiberi, Simmons, Hirschi, Healy, Van Eetvelt, Cattaneo, Rubio, Tobias Halland Johannessen and Jorgenson, Valentin Paret-Peintre.

More significantly of all though, Tom Pidcock is here! There’s no way the GC teams can allow him up the road again now he’s as high as fourth overall.

A large breakaway group has a gap on the peloton, where UAE are riding tempo. Armirail, Rubio, Carapaz and Paret-Peintre are right towards the front of the group, and among the riders trying to thin it out.

The riders are on the first climb of the day, the category one Grand Ballon. It’s a very long one, going on for 21.6km, and though it’s steeper than its average gradient of 4.8% suggests – that number is skewed by a brief downhill halfway up.

EF are riding the climb with intent, first Healy and then Carapaz upping the pace at the front.

INTERMEDIATE SPRINT

Philipsen takes the sprint, ahead of Pedersen, Kanter and Girmay. Girmay had a lead-out man control the sprint, but Girmay looked very tired and lost ground in the finale. Here’s what the rankings look like now:

1 Pedersen 397

2 Philipsen 361

3 Girmay 347

4 Merlier 307

5 Kanter 255

Still Alpecin control the peloton, with no attacks being attempted from the peloton. They’re all waiting for after the intermediate sprint, which is coming up in just 3km.

Mercifully for the riders, the rain has stopped and they’re greeted by sunshine again.

Alpecin-Premier Tech are leading the peloton, controlling it for the upcoming intermediate sprint. They still have designs on the green jersey with Jasper Philipsen; here are the current rankings in that classification.

1 Pedersen 377

2 Philipsen 336

3 Girmay 333

4 Merlier 307

5 Kanter 239

OFFICIAL START

And they’re off! But there are no attacks just yet. It could be that they’re holding fire until after the day’s intermediate sprint, which comes just 12km into the stage.

It’s a very uncomfortable start for the riders, who are currently being subjected to hailstones! As much as they must have been longing for an easement to the heat at this year’s Tour, this goes beyond refreshing and looks nasty. Just 1.5km until the start, and the riders can warm themselves up by starting to race.

The riders at the start. We’re preparing for yet another instalment of the rivalry between Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard. Can the latter at last manage to land a blow, having been gotten the better of for such a long time?

There is one DNS to report today – Alpecin’s Ramses Debruyne, who became ill last night.

Who will take inspiration from Mauro Schmid and Jayco-AlUla’s success yesterday? They demonstrated the effectiveness of having multiple riders in the breakaway, as they worked together to help Schmid come out on top. There will be multiple teams and raiders hoping for a repeat of that and doing everything they can to get their men in the day’s break.

‘We’ve been waiting for this’ – Jayco-AlUla celebrate major collective effort at Tour de France to propel Mauro Schmid to breakaway stage victory

The riders have just started the neutralised zone. It’s a long one today, lasting 12.5km, so plenty of time to warm up.

They will need warming up, too. Although the first climb does not come until over 10km into the stage, this is a day where many will want to get into the break, and so the action will likely be hectic right from the flag.

There are four mountains today, including three with a rating of category one, all amounting to a total elevation gain of 3,800m. Whereas yesterday’s stage was a mostly flat day ending with one tough climb at the finish, today is a sustained test of climbing, and will therefore suit both the GC riders and the climbing specialists.

We’re in the Vosges today, for what will be one of the biggest climbing tests at this Tour so far, culminating in the category one climb of Le Markstein. They’ve had a quiet few days, but the GC riders all come to the forefront today.

Tour de France 2026 stage 14 preview – Maiden ascent of the Col du Haag as the fourth categorised climb on Saturday expected to propel GC action

Hello and welcome to stage 14 of the Tour de France!